A/N: Damn! I've broken the barrier of 200 reviews! Gosh, thank you all SO much! I never thought that people would be so interested in the stuff I write… Hugs and kisses to all of you! *Smooch* *Smooch*
Back to our story now… Salaam Dementia (Sal) was of much help these two days and came up with some stuff for the story. Plus Seifer has been nice to me, so I'm considering helping him get back with Quisty. He's been punished enough, dontcha think? Anywayz, Sal wanted to give you guys out a very small taste of the sequels to come, so we worked together and found a way to mix them all! Seifer's mission, the 'making up' of Sei and Quis and hints of the sequels! I'm not going to say what it is out loud, but I think that you'll get it. The hints will be much stronger on the next chappy. Until then…
Ciao!
Chapter 29: Returning from the ashes
Xu waited eagerly behind the elevator doors outside her office. Her face fell when she saw Seifer sitting on the floor, looking awful.
- "Well? What happened? Did it work?" she asked, but already knew his answer. Seifer got up and walked over to her.
- "That was you?" he asked frowning.
- "Yeah…"
- "First of all… Don't do any of that shit again. You scared Quistis to death." he said angrily "And second, no it didn't."
- "Why?" asked Xu sadly.
- "Because she didn't think she could trust me ever again." he replied "Anyway, thanks for trying to help and sorry if I was rough just now. Gotta go. Bye…" he said.
- "Where are you going?"
- "I'm leaving on a mission at noon. Gotta go pack…"
- "Oh…" said Xu. Seifer walked over to the elevator and pushed the button "Seifer?" she called. Seifer turned around "I'm sorry things didn't work out…" she said sincerely.
- "Yeah, me too…" he said and turned around, walking inside.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Three days later…
- "Still 'feeling under the weather'?" Irvine asked Quistis who was sitting across him on the lunch table.
- "Yeah… Fall's starting to get to me…" she said gloomily.
- "Maybe you should go see Dr. Kadowaki…" suggested Rinoa.
- "Nah, I'll be fine. I feel like that every year this time…" Quistis replied.
- "Suit yourself…" said the brunette.
They all remained silent, eating their lunch. Suddenly Selphie who -except for Squall- was the only one missing, ran inside the cafeteria and over to them in thunder-like speed.
- "Hurry… Office… Accident… Mission…" she said panting.
- "Whoa, whoa… Breathe!" said Zell "What's wrong?"
- "What accident?" asked Rinoa.
- "At… the… mission…" said Selphie.
- "What mission?" asked Shizuka.
- "What accident?" asked Quistis, starting to feel worried.
- "Seifer…" said Selphie taking a deep breath. Irvine shot Quistis a worried look.
- "What about him?!" yelled Quistis.
- "Come up… to the office…" said Selphie still trying to breathe properly.
All six of them ran up to Squall's office on the 3rd floor. Quistis was the first one to barge inside.
- "Squall! What happened?" she asked frantically.
- "The mission Seifer was in…" said Squall with difficulty "…it was a set-up."
- "What do you mean a 'set- up'?" asked Zell.
- "Former Galbadian officials wanted his head…" said Xu who was already inside the office with Squall.
- "And?!" asked Quistis.
- "We still don't know exactly what happened. Something about an explosion." said Squall.
- "Is he alive?" asked Rinoa.
- "He's disappeared for a day. We can't reach him. We've got absolutely no idea where he might be, if alive…" said Squall sadly.
- "Well aren't you going to do anything?!" asked Quistis exasperated "Send out a search party!"
- "Already done that… All we have to do now… is wait." said Xu.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The students and staff of Garden went about their daily routine. Three girls were standing in front of the Directory, chatting vigorously and commenting on anyone who passed by.
- "…heard her dad paid for her to come here. She didn't even get tested…" said one of them to the other two.
- "Are you sure? 'Cause I heard she got flunked at first and then her father paid for her admittance…" said the second.
- "Either way, she got in through daddy's money…" said the first one again.
- "Oh – my – Hyne…" said the third one, looking towards the entrance with eyes wide open.
- "I know! I couldn't believe it at first either!" said the second one.
- "No… Look!" said the third girl, pointing at what she was looking.
All three girls, just like the rest of the people passing by at that moment stared towards the entrance. A man walked inside the Garden wearing what used to be a SeeD uniform. One of his boots had a whole side torn up and was dangling in a weird angle. The pants of the uniform were no longer a pair; the left part of the fabric was practically gone, while the right one was torn. Half a left sleeve was cut off by the jacket, which was also ruined in the outline. The man was resting his gunblade on one shoulder, walking around casually. He was covered in ashes and even his golden blond hair had now a lovely shade of grey. His green eyes though stood out, as they glistened triumphantly. And the smirk on his face never left…
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Everyone inside Squall's office on the bridge was filled with anxiety. Others were pacing up and down the room, others were sitting down quietly not saying a words… Quistis was looking out of the window, standing still, not knowing whether she should cry, scream or just do nothing. Suddenly, Cid walked inside the office, making everyone jump up.
- "Sir, any news from Seifer?!" asked Quistis immediately.
- "Relax Quistis. Seifer's fine. He's here. At the Infirmary." said Cid smiling. 'Thank Hyne' was heard from all directions.
- "Did he say what happened? He is conscious, right?" asked Squall.
- "Of course. He walked inside the Garden. Quite an impressive entrance, if I might add. He walked inside covered in ashes, with his blade on his shoulder, totally calm…"
- "So he just walked out of there without a simple scratch?" asked Squall in disbelief.
- "Oh no. He's pretty much scratched and bruised everywhere. He just wanted to show off…" said Cid grinning. All of them laughed. That was Seifer's style alright…
- "Did he say anything?" asked Xu.
- "Yes. I believe it was something along the lines of 'Fucking Galbadians'… Thought I'd lower his rank by one point for that, but instead I raised it to A. Quite the right action, don't you think?" asked Cid.
- "Yes sir…" said Squall awkwardly, not being able to help but feel a bit jealous of Seifer's tremendous progress though "… but I think Xu meant about the mission."
- "I didn't think it was time yet. Let him rest a bit. He'll come and give you a full report himself then." said Cid.
- "Of course sir." said Squall.
- "Back to your jobs everyone." said Cid "Fortunately, there's nothing more to talk about."
Quistis was the last one out of the office. She was just about to join the others, when Xu called her.
- "Quistis? A private word?" she asked.
- "Sure…" said Quistis walking inside Xu's office, closing the door behind her "What is it?"
- "Worried you'd never see him again, huh?" asked Xu smiling.
- "Excuse me?" asked Quistis puzzled.
- "It's OK, you can tell me…"
- "W-w-what are you talking about?" asked Quistis hesitantly.
- "As an answer to you unspoken question, yes, I know and no, Seifer didn't tell me."
- "You… You know?"
- "Don't forget I know you better than anyone else in here." said Xu. Quistis blushed "Anyway, that's not the issue here… What I really want to hear is why you two had a fight a week ago…"
- "Xu, this really isn't…" began Quistis.
- "If you don't want to get trapped inside the elevator again, you'll speak."
- "YOU?!" asked Quistis angrily, pointing a threatening finger at Xu.
- "Yes, me. Now spill." said Xu firmly.
Quistis sighed and sat down on an armchair. She began her narration from the very beginning. When she finished, Xu was looking at her with an eyebrow raised.
- "I see…" said Xu "We spoke a few days ago you know…"
- "What did he tell you?" asked Quistis.
- "That he fucked up… Big time… And that he feels really bad about himself." replied Xu.
- "And you believed him?" asked Quistis raising an eyebrow.
- "Honestly?" asked Xu. Quistis nodded "Yes."
- "*Scoff* I never thought I'd live to hear this… Either way… I don't know if I can trust him ever again…" said Quistis sighing.
- "Yeah, I can understand that…" said Xu "Are you gonna go see him?" she asked.
- "I dunno… I want to, but… not yet…" Quistis replied getting up "I need some time to think things through…"
- "Alright…" said Xu.
Quistis left Xu's office silently and headed towards her dorm.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Meanwhile, up in Cid's office, Squall and the Headmaster were watching a tape of Seifer's escape, which he had brought forward as evidence. At some point Squall pressed the 'Pause' button.
- "There… See that? They said something that ticked him off…" said Squall.
- "Seifer's not that difficult to enrage Squall…" said Cid grinning.
- "I know, but it just seemed to trigger his whole retaliation. He went berserk right after that…" said Squall.
- "Do you think he hasn't told us everything there is to know?" asked Cid.
- "I don't know…" said Squall falling deep in thought.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The blonde Instructor was lying on her bed looking up at the ceiling. Suddenly, she heard a gentle knock on her door which broke the complete silence inside the dorm. Quistis reluctantly got up and answered her door.
- "I think you need to hear this…" said Xu storming inside, not even bothering to say 'Hello'.
- "Hear what?" asked Quistis closing the door.
- "This." said Xu, holding up a small black tape.
- "What's this?" asked Quistis.
- "You know that we keep records of all the SeeD reports when they return from missions, right?"
- "Of course I do…" replied Quistis.
- "This one is Seifer's." said Xu, walking over to a small cassette recorder on Quistis' desk.
She flipped the black tape inside and pressed the 'Play' button. Quistis sat down on the armchair and listened to the tape carefully:
CID: Alright Seifer, you may begin…
SEIFER: I arrived at the leader's mansion at 1500 hours as programmed.
- "What mansion?" asked Quistis, pressing the 'Pause' button.
- "Seifer's mission was in Galbadia. He was supposed to meet the leader of some newly-formed rebel group." replied Xu.
- "Rebels with a mansion?" asked Quistis raising an eyebrow.
- "I'll explain later…" said Xu, pressing the 'Play' button again.
SEIFER: As soon as we began discussing the mission, two guards rushed inside out of the blue and tried to seize me under the orders of their leader.
SQUALL: You didn't pull any tricks, did you?
SEIFER: Of course not, Pub… err… COMMANDER, I told you; for no damn reason at all.
CID: Go on please.
SEIFER: I easily pried them off…
SQUALL: *Scoff*
SEIFER: *Heavy sigh* After I EASILY made them let go, I tried to escape, but one of them pulled out a gun. They asked me to play along with them. I… 'politely' declined…
CID: How did you escape?
SEIFER: Right after I refused to settle with their terms, they left me trapped inside a room and set a time bomb.
SQUALL: Hence the explosion…
SEIFER: Exactly.
CID: Did all of them get away?
SEIFER: Probably… But that's not the real scoop here… They rebel group was just a cover-up. The former President's son was behind all this.
SQUALL: We figured as much… How did you find out?
SEIFER: He showed up. He tried to persuade me to work for them and after I refused, he managed to escape and set up the time bomb.
SQUALL: Why not just shoot you?
SEIFER: He tried. I suppose he could have made it if he really wanted to, or just have someone else shoot me. Besides, they had to destroy any evidence of their existence.
SQUALL: Alright. Why not shoot you and then flame the whole place up afterwards?
SEIFER: I don't know! They probably wanted to see if I could escape; everything seemed too convenient.
SQUALL: But why?
SEIFER: I've told you all I know. I'm just as puzzled as you are.
CID: Did they say what they wanted you for in the first place?
SEIFER: Not very clearly. Just that they wanted me to work for them.
CID: We need evidence to back up your theory. Do you have any? *sound of something dropping onto the desk* What's that?
SEIFER: Copy of the surveillance cameras. No sound on it though.
SQUALL: That doesn't cover you fully. We need audio to confirm your story.
SEIFER: That's all I've got.
CID: I'm not sure if that's enough to put them down though.
SEIFER: I know, but that was the best I could get.
CID: At least it's something…
SEIFER: *Yawn* Can I go now? I haven't rested at all.
CID: Yes Seifer, you're excused. Good job.
SEIFER: Thank you sir.
[Click]
- "Well?" Xu asked Quistis after the tape ended.
- "I dunno…" said Quistis rubbing her chin "Something doesn't fit… Seems to me like he was hiding facts… The sound of his voice gave him away…"
- "Good observation…" said Xu.
- "Do you know something I don't know?" asked Quistis.
- "Seifer might have told me a couple of things about what happened in the mission…" said Xu.
- "You spoke to him?"
- "Just before I came here."
- "What did he say?" asked Quistis.
- "He told me the whole story. Wanna hear it?" asked Xu.
- "Well what do you think?!" said Quistis eagerly, as the raven haired girl before her began narrating…
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
ON THE NEXT CHAPTER OF 'LOVE CONQUERS ALL':
We get a 'flashback' of what exactly happened in Seifer's mission as Xu narrates it, through Seifer's POV.
What exactly was Seifer hiding from Cid and Squall and why did he hold back information?
Why did Xu want Quistis to hear about the whole story?